Jacada, a provider of customer service technology, today announced the beta availability of Jacada Mobile Agent, its new mobile product offering.

Designed with patent-pending technology to improve customer service, Jacada Mobile Agent reduces inbound call volume by enabling business users to create and offer rich self-service capabilities to users of smartphones and mobile devices without waiting for complex approval and deployment processes. Jacada Mobile Agent leverages its agile and feature-rich platform to bridge the gap between self-service and traditional customer service contact channels by allowing the customer to connect to a live agent, when they want, to complete an interaction; all without having to repeat information, such as their names, account numbers, the nature of the call, or any other details needed to resolve their questions.

"One of the top sources of customer frustration when calling customer care is the IVR. In fact, IVR has become synonymous with poor customer service because it isn't designed to handle complex customer questions,” said Gideon Hollander, CEO of Jacada, in a statement. "Traditional self-service only works if the problem is easy. However, when customer problems become complicated, the user experience breaks down. With Jacada Mobile Agent, customers will finally be able to take advantage of mobility and experience continuity when starting a self-service interaction, having the ability to complete the interaction in a traditional voice or chat channel."

"I believe if companies design mobile self-service apps with the customer in mind, then apps such as Jacada Mobile Agent could become popular with consumers and help organizations beat operational and business goals” says Richard Snow, vice president and research director at Ventana Research, in the statement.

Jacada Mobile Agent is currently in beta testing undergoing extensive collaborative deployments with large customers worldwide. Jacada expects general availability of Jacada Mobile Agent in the third quarter of this year.